📹 The library is a minimalist’s paradise
If you have a book hoarding problem, maybe try visiting your public library. Today I visited Rockdale Library, the nearest public …
What is the paradox of minimalism?
The minimalist lifestyle entails a conscious effort to limit one’s material possessions. Instead of merely avoiding excess, minimalists seek to reduce the number of material items they possess. This approach has been found to result in greater levels of happiness and contentment, as individuals tend to view all possessions as equally desirable and may therefore avoid the frustration that can arise from having too many material items.
Is minimalism still relevant?
In 2022, the average person spent nearly seven hours a day on the internet, with over two hours spent on social media. As digital minimalism continues to evolve, it has become more relevant than ever. However, some argue that minimalism has lost its relevance in our busy modern lives, while others question its relevance in today’s digital world. Even Google seems to think that minimalism is outdated, with phrases like “minimalism is dead” and “minimalism is for the rich” being interpreted negatively.
What are the disadvantages of minimalism?
Minimalism is a concept that allows individuals to simplify their lives by focusing on experiences and fewer things. However, it also has its drawbacks, such as long decision making and the tendency to try to convince others too much. A minimalist may be stingy, as they may not be able to focus on all aspects of life.
One downside of minimalism is the time spent choosing the best option before purchasing something. This can lead to exhaustion and rejection of the purchase plan after a few days or weeks. To address this issue, some people use consumer-friendly rules in Poland, which allow customers to try products in limited ways before making a final decision. For example, when looking for a sports watch, a person might try several options before choosing Garmin, despite initial dissatisfaction with the company.
To deal with long decision making, one should conduct a deep investigation and question whether they truly need the item. Holding off on a purchase decision for a month may lead to the conclusion that the item is unnecessary. By being flexible and using what one truly needs, individuals can better navigate the challenges of minimalism and make informed decisions about their lives.
How do minimalists deal with books?
The author shares their minimalist approach to books, which involves passing books on, giving them away, or donating them. They initially considered books off limits, but after decluttering, they began to see their books as a tool for expressing their love for reading. They moved books when they moved, installed shelves or purchased furniture for them, and occasionally dusted them. They realized that their books were meant to prove their love for reading, but they were not the books they owned. After realizing this, they let go of their books and embraced their love for reading. This minimalist approach to books has helped them maintain a healthy reading habit.
What is the 30 30 rule for minimalists?
The 30/30 rule, as proposed by The Minimalists, suggests that if an item costs more than $30, it may be worthwhile to attempt to live without it for 30 hours. Similarly, if an item costs more than $100, it may be beneficial to wait 30 days before making a decision. This additional period allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of the item’s contribution to one’s overall quality of life. This rule is applicable in instances where JavaScript is disabled or blocked by an extension, or when a browser does not support cookies.
Why is minimalism better?
Minimalism offers numerous benefits, including peace of mind, improved health, and a clutter-free environment. A clutter-free environment leads to less stress, clutter, and cleaning, providing more space, money, energy, focus, and creativity. Minimalism also improves health by reducing stress levels and providing extra money in the bank account. A less stressful life benefits both physical and mental health, as it encourages a shift away from the consumerist and comparison culture.
Additionally, minimalism allows for more time and money to be spent on physical health through exercise or mental health through therapy. Overall, minimalism offers numerous positive changes that contribute to overall well-being.
What to get rid of minimalists?
This blog post provides a list of 70 items to get rid of for a minimalist home, including outdated media, board games, home decor, extra furniture, and used candles. The goal is to declutter and embrace minimalist living by removing unnecessary items and focusing on simplicity and intentionality. The post contains affiliate links, and readers are encouraged to read the Disclosure for more details. The goal is to create a clutter-free environment that promotes a minimalist lifestyle.
Why should you declutter books?
Having too many books can hinder the enjoyment of reading, as it may lead to resistance to new books and temptation to reread unloved ones. Decluttering books periodically can help maintain a love for reading and reduce the space they take up. Some categories of books that should be decluttered include:
- Fiction: Books that are not well-written, poorly written, or have a lack of depth.\n2
Which concept did minimalists avoid?
The Minimalism movement emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on simple geometric shapes and lines, with literal and objective meanings, and shifting away from Abstract Expressionism. This trend influenced painting, sculpture, architecture, product design, interior design, and lifestyle. The emphasis on essentials in art dates back to 1915 when Russian painter Kasimir Malevich created a minimalist piece. Over time, influential professionals preferred art that referred only to itself, reducing anything that appeared excessive.
The minimalist approach, often associated with New York in the 1960s, is now globally recognized for its emphasis on simplicity, utility, and elegance, known by various names such as ABC art, Literalist art, Object art, or Cool art.
📹 MINIMALISM AND BOOKS | why i don’t really own any physical books and what I do instead
Hello Friends! In this video, I talk about why I don’t own any physical books. While I am not an extreme minimalist, I do prefer to …
All our city libraries, at least in our county(district sa pinas), are like the library you’re describing. In addition, they also do alot of reading programs for kids like story time, and they have these play areas with toys/puzzles that can be done quietly. Visitors can also make purchase requests of any type of media and sometimes they show up in next year’s library procurement for visitors to borrow. I usually ask for movies, magazines, audiobooks, e-books, and paper books in that order. But covid messed up my visiting habits. Even with partial reopening in late 2020, I’ve been so accustomed to life without it that I don’t bother with visiting the library anymore. Other interests, mainly on youtube have replaced the library.
I’m really prone to book hoarding, so I set some ground rules for myself about owning physical books. The most important of these ground rules is: I will not own more books than can physically fit on my one bookshelf, stored upright with spines facing out – NO stacking. If a new book doesn’t fit, then one other book has to be sold or donated to make room. This really helps keep the hoarding in check.
Hey Bintou, I may do a similar article❤️ actually found your website researching whether or not I wanted to upgrade from paperwhite to oasis (I’m curious about the warm light because I read a lot everyday and am getting older…) and then began perusal your other articles. I used to scoff at the idea of e-reading but forward to the past three years and it’s almost exclusively how I consume literature. I agree on all points, I have a massive collection of physical books with about 90% of it never being read again. The idea of moving them is unfathomable. Enjoying your content.
I grew up in a divided household! My mum’s philosophy is own the books that you love and want to read again (so we have a lot of 19th Century and 20th Century classics on our family shelf), meanwhile my dad’s philosophy is to only keep books that aren’t easily accessible (rare books, or books that have sentimental value passed down through generations). I fall somewhere in the middle! Most of what I read comes from the library, and I only buy books that I have read and loved and want to reread, or books I am certain I’m going to love.
Recently I have embraced minimalism for several reasons. I was a book collector and the local Friends of the Library got a huge donation of books 35 moving boxes full. Now I use Kindle unlimited, book bub deals and mainly my library (where I’m lucky enough to work) to get a good 90% of my books free. I do have one regular 5 shelf bookcase that has real books on it but it also holds my few DVDs.
I’m fairly new to reading as a hobby, but i have bought 3 books, for a couple of reasons. I live in Hungary and I prefer reading books in English cause it is a great way to keep up my level and learn a couple of new words along the way. Second, because I live in Hungary the books I’m interested in are not even translated so i would have to wait years for it, and because of the new stupid law most books probably won’t even be translated. The third reason is why I like purchasing books is because they give me joy, when i can hold them in my hand and just stare at the cover for houuuuuuuurs (I’m looking at you Legendborn <3). The last reason is that I want to support the authors ESPECIALLY indie/black authors because they need to know that what the have made is worth every penny.
I usually buy books used. My local bookstore has a rewards program, so I can get a lot of books for free so I’m more relaxed with what I pick out. If I buy new, it’s either something I can’t get through my library or something I know I love and want to be able to re-read whenever. I don’t like ebooks, but I’m considering using scribd because buying physical copies was pricey, and there were definitely books that I don’t plan on re-reading. I have very limited shelf space.
I am right there with you! I used to have a lot of joy of owning physical books and now my mindset has switched. Now I only want to own books that I really love otherwise there is no reason to keep books for me for the same reason that I do not reread. I started using an ereader recently due to Covid and I really enjoy it.
After years of raising children, realising we can’t take it with us when we go, we sold out 4 bedroom home, bought a flash American rv, imported it to new Zealand where we live, and a truck to tow it, and moved in. We invest the rest. The kids can have what’s left. Not that they need it. Talk about minimalism. Essentially, the rule was, if I havn’t used it on the last two years, we got rid of it. Man, the amount of stuff we gave away, sold cheap or threw out. Now, if we don’t use it, and serves no practical purpose other than to be moved, to be dusted around, we don’t need it.
I own a couple of books and the ones I do own are books that I have re-read multiple times or am planning on re-reading in the future. I agree on all the points you mentioned but for me the enviromental impact of books is also important. Printing books needs a lot of ressources which is why I donate all books I buy and won’t reread to Oxfam, so that someone else gets to read the copy. This and going to the library are the two ways I try to spare my purse and our planet.
I have to remind myself constantly that just because a book is on the kindle daily deal list, I don’t have to buy it. 1.99-4.99 per book still adds up quickly! I think my New Year resolution will be to read the books I’ve already acquired and to buy ZERO in 2020. If there’s a new book I feel that I simply just have to read, I’ll just put it on hold on Libby. ☺️
I don’t own any physical books either, I only read ebooks on my Kindle Paperwhite. I ran out of room on my bookshelves and when I moved to a smaller apartment, I found myself with boxes and boxes of books in which I gave away. My public library uses Overdrive and that is an option although the wait time and ebook selections can be better. I have noticed that ebooks are cheaper and my Kindle can hold thousands of books. It’s definitely a better option for me.
Great article. Let me count my books… my husband and I own about 250-275 books. I’ve gotten rid of a lot over the years. As a “minimalist” I’m still struggling to figure out how many books is enough for me, and also making room for books I don’t care about but that my husband wants to keep. That’s not even counting the kids’ bookcase. They probably have another 200 maybe haha. I have a Kindle but rarely buy books on it. Mostly borrow or get deals. I’d be very interested to hear how much you spend on books. Don’t all those subscriptions add up every month? Most of the books I read are library borrows or from the used book sales/freebies. Also, fun fact about me: I live one town over from Toms River, NJ. Our water is good though!
I read both paper and ebooks. I prefer paper but your comments about ebooks are spot on! My joy comes from being surrounded by books either read or unread. And the vast majority of my books are used, bargain, or library sale books. Very few new releases. I don’t spend much money on anything else and I’m very bargain conscious. Your ideas and thoughts are great and I love your article concept!
I purchase physical books to put on my shelves and check out audiobooks from the library (thank you, Libby app!). I have tried reading ebooks before but, for whatever reason, the strain on my eyes is more than what I can handle and I start getting headaches; even after I got blue light glasses, it didn’t seem to help. I think I prefer physical books because I like annotating pages with favorite passages, critical notes, and all that. Plus, I’m a kind of tactile person, and the physical aspect of reading physical books with the feel of the binding and the turning of pages has always helped me feel at ease. Once I read a book and I find I don’t like it enough to want to keep it (for either a re-read or critical analysis or just nostalgia’s sake), I donate it to the library. Do I have a lot of books? Debatably, yes. Are those books mostly unread? Admittedly, yes. 😞
Moving is the best incentive not to buy stuff. I have two physical books (not including textbooks) with me here at school. I donated/recycled around a hundred books before moving for school. Of the books I have, one is a reference type book about running and the other is a novel I picked up at the airport. I normally read ebooks on my ipad, but for travel I prefer to have a paperback just so I don’t have to worry about forgetting, losing, or dropping an expensive device.
I love that you did this article. If you don’t mind I’d love to do my own and give you credit for the idea. I just got into booktube in October of 2020 and realized I will not be like other booktubers because I’m a minimalist and having too many things gives me anxiety. But like you I love perusal others book hauls and bookshelf tours, it’s just too much for me personally. Thank you so much for talking about this. It’s rare in the bookish world. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
My philosophy is everyone should follow their bliss which it seems you are doing so I’m happy for you. I collected books when I was younger, picking them up whenever they were free or close to it and hauling the from place to place when I moved. I had slowed down buying books because I wasn’t generally reading them, though now that I am reading more I am also buying more. I’m now only buying books that I expect to be 5 star reads or expect to want to give to a younger family member and just want to preview it first. At some point I need to go through and get rid of a bunch of books. I think my younger self thought that I’d have more time as an adult.
I just found your website & have subscribed, I have a fair few physical books in my collection all crime thrillers ranging from Ian Rankin & Peter James to David Baldacci & Lee Child. however, I do own a kindle Fire tablet & have a few books on there also. I love having physical copies around just in case I maybe one day meet the author so I can get the book signed & if I absolutely love a book I will buy it digitally a second time. Loving what I’ve seen of the website so far.
I had a lot of books growing up and then, similarly, because of moving for college and stuff I downsized quite a bit. My intention is to have books I love a lot because I want to reread them or because I want to have them on hand to share with friends but now I find I don’t even want that so I’m probably going to cut back even more. The biggest offender in my collection is my comics section cause there are so many volumes and I haven’t found the digital experience as good for that medium yet.
I definitely want to own less books but a big part of what brings me joy after becoming independent has been being able to buy my books and I do go through every spring and fall and donate books I either am not going to read again or just lost interest in reading but I have been leaning heavily on kindle and libby the past few months, since I am not home. I can see my collection becoming smaller over time as I read and keep donating books but I still have about 200 unread books I think.
I think I own like 160 ish books, I just like to own books particularly if I read them and loved them because I do like to reread books that I’ve enjoyed, however I do also borrow a LOT of books from the library whether that’s ebooks or audiobooks etc in some ways I’m truly jealous of people who aren’t physically attached to owning their books because they’ve definitely saved money and also I’m a military family so we do move a lot and I hate moving boxes of books lmao but also I think there’s something beautiful about a friend or family coming over and seeing my shelves and it sparks conversation on what we like or done like to read or loaning out a book to someone or giving someone a book that you think they’re going to absolutely love to take and keep for their own. I can see pros and cons to both sides of the spectrum and I think everyone should do whatever suits their lifestyle and preferences best and honestly I never noticed there were no books behind you lol ☺️
It’s always fascinating to see how other people view books. I read a ton on my e-reader. When the first one came out I jumped on that bandwagon so fast… But I also always had my physical books. And yes I moved my collection multiple times. I’m very grateful that my family and friends didn’t cuss me out. But I have to say I buy books now of which I think I will keep or already love so much that I want the fancy edition. And yes I buy books in multiple editions. My logic is that I can afford to do this. The authors whom I love get more money doing something they love and the editions I don’t want goes to a second hand shop where others can get something they love for cheap. Like I did when I didn’t had a stable income, ebooks were horrible expensive in my country and my library only had a small selection of English books and even less SFF, so browsing in a secondhand shop for books was always a treat. I am fully aware that I’m very lucky that I can do this. And when I look at my 4 bookcases I do see lots of memories. So to me it’s worth it. 🙂
I love this! I typically try to not keep too many books and am very fond of the minimalist movement (although I don’t consider myself quite a minimalist). My biggest downfall is books, but I usually donate or bring my books to little library boxes when I have finished unless I absolutely loved it or I love the author. It’s still a struggle, especially since I just started a booktube website and all I want to do is buy all the books! I also really struggle when a paperback is the same price or cheaper than the kindle version (what is up with that??) but I try to make my gut reaction to wanting a book to be look on Libby to see if my library has an ebook of it, and if the wait isn’t too long, I’ll do that before looking into other means. Also, fun fact! I got to meet the guys from that minimalist documentary. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as aware of or excited about minimalism at the time, so it didn’t mean much to me (I went with someone else because I was new to the city and would go literally anywhere I was invited in hopes to make and solidify friendships). At first, I thought it was kinda crazy, but by the end of his talk, I was totally on board 😂 Also, just had to say that I love your articles and I’m even more excited about your website now that I know we connect on these ideas!